Indirect ophthalmoscopy, in particular binocular indirect ophthalmoscopy, is a procedure commonly used to examine the fundus of an eye. The technique involves using a hand-held condensing lens which is placed between the user and the subject. This lens produces an aerial image of the retina that is viewed through the viewing optics of the ophthalmoscope.
Typically, the ophthalmoscope is head mounted and comprises a light source from which a beam is projected towards the eye under examination via the hand-held condensing lens. The viewing optics, which are usually binocular, enable the examiner or user to obtain a view of the image of the fundus of the eye under examination.
Certain ophthalmoscopes, in particular teaching ophthalmoscopes, are provided with video cameras for capturing images of an eye under examination. Those images can be fed to an external computer on which they are recorded for subsequent analysis by a qualified practitioner or by students being taught the technique of indirect ophthalmoscopy. The connection between the computer and the instrument is a cable, such as a USB or firewire cable which can impede the movement of the user. In addition, a cable connection provides a limited bandwidth means of transmitting image data, and the can correspondingly limit the resolution and/or frame rate of the video footage which can be supplied from the instrument to the computer.